Near the beginning of a traditional Passover Seder, a piece of matzah is broken in half. The larger of the two pieces is hidden away in linen cloth until the end of the meal. When it is brought back from concealment it is shared by everyone at the table as their final morsel. This broken and hidden piece of matzah is called the afikoman.

None of it is explained in the Haggadah for Passover. Nor is it mentioned in Scripture. The term afikoman appears first in the Mishnah (the earliest collection of rabbinic legal rulings, codified around 200 CE/AD) in tractate Pesahim (10:8). [1 ] Although afikoman is written in Hebrew letters, it is actually a Greek word.

He said the whole piece of matzah held up at the beginning of the meal represented all Israel, while the broken-off portion stood for the longed-for Messiah. When the hidden afikoman emerged from concealment at the end of the Seder, it symbolized the coming of the Messiah in the midst of his people. [3 ] [On whether there were 2 or 3 matzahs used during the meal, see Note 4 below.]

Eisler's Thesis

 Whole matzah = all Israel
 Broken, hidden piece = Messiah

According to Eisler, this symbolic ritual was already being observed by at least some (if not most) Jews in the first century at the time of Yeshua. The ritual thus predated him.

Eisler's thesis was vehemently criticized by prominent Jewish and Christian scholars who tried to suppress the publication of his sequel article in 1926. They failed. But his research lay dormant for forty years until 1966.

Daube said the Passover meal long had a messianic tone to it. And the afikoman matzah glowed with a special aura. He believed this was because it symbolized the expected Messiah. [7 ] The afikoman energized the Seder with a deep sense of expectancy: the hope of an even greater, future Passover redemption.

Thus, when Yeshua lifted the unleavened bread and said, "Take, eat; this is my body," he was in effect saying: "This broken and hidden matzah, which has for our people symbolized the Messiah, is fulfilled in me. I myself am the Afikoman — the Coming One — whom you expect." [8 ]

Daube discusses the declaration in Sanhedrin 98b–99a (attributed to Hillel): "There will be no Messiah for Israel, since they have already enjoyed him during the reign of Hezekiah." (Hezekiah was king during the time of Isaiah in the 8th cent. BCE.) What's striking in this Talmudic passage is that the word "enjoyed" is literally "ate" (achal). To eat the Messiah? [He That Cometh, p. 2]

The implication of Eisler's thesis — and Daube's added validation — is clear: Yeshua took an existing Jewish messianic-prophetic tradition and used it as an opportunity for self-revelation. He was uniting himself with his people into "one loaf" and fulfilling their messianic hopes.

Submerged Stream
This messianic symbolism and ritual were eventually lost to Jewish tradition.

Daube (himself a Jew) suggests the linguistic origin of afikoman may have been deliberately distorted by the rabbis. Hence, later definitions "dessert" and "after-dinner entertainment" were put forth to cover the duplicity. Or the messianic symbolism of the ritual was suppressed by later rabbinic commentators because the "messiah" didn't arrive.

In other words, because Yeshua's Jewish disciples perpetuated the old customs about the afikoman, official Judaism abandoned them.

This was (and continues to be) a common rabbinic tactic for treating perceived heresy. Whatever gave credence to Yeshua's claims must either be reinterpreted or rejected altogether. [ 9 ]

Similarly, in the later gentilized Christian church, the original Passover background to the "Lord's Supper" ( 1 Cor 11:20) was obscured by two forces.

One was Emperor Constantine's edict in AD 325 that Christians must have nothing to do with "the odious Jews" by commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus when Jews observed Passover.

The second compelling force was the heated discussions in the church about Transubstantiation and the efficacy of the sacrament.

In time, the messianic (i.e., Jewish) symbolism in the Seder and Afikoman disappeared in the Church behind the Eucharist and the Host, Communion and the Breaking of Bread.

Liddell & Scott's classical Greek—English Lexicon defines epikomios as "a festal procession," belonging to a komos (the preposition epi can denote "after"). A komos meant "jovial festivity with music and dancing; revel, merry-making." In time, public komoi honored several gods, esp. Bacchus; then they were held in honor of sports heroes. In my view, it's unthinkable that Jews would adopt a Greek word that connoted Bacchanalian revelry into their celebration of the Festival of Pesach.
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Some Christian interpreters see in the Middle Matzah a symbol of Jesus (who was broken, hidden away, then returns in the distant future), the "middle" or second person of the Trinity. The NT does not mention multiple pieces of unleavened bread. It only says Yeshua "took bread."

In his book The Temple (1874), Alfred Edersheim (1825—1889) suggests that there were originally only two matzot used in a Seder at the time of Yeshua. In chap. 12 ("The Paschal Feast and the Lord's Supper") he reconstructs the meal and notes:

"From the time of the evening-sacrifice nothing was to be eaten till the Paschal Supper, so that all might come to it with relish. It is a moot point, whether at the time of our Lord two, or as at present, three, large cakes of unleavened bread were used in the service." (p. 237)

"Hands were now washed a second time, with the same prayer as before, and one of the two unleavened cakes broken and 'thanks given.' " (p. 241)
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"When the people saw the sign he did, they said, 'Truly, this is the Prophet, the One Coming into the world.' " (John 6:14)

"[Martha said to him], 'I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One Coming into the world.' " (John 11:27)

" 'The One Coming from above is over all.' " (John 3:31)

"Amen. Come, Adon Yeshua." (Rev 22:20)
The verb used in these texts is erchomenos (from erchomai), not afikneomai. The Hebrew equivalent is ha-Ba ("Coming One"), a title based partly on Psalm 118:26: "Blessed is the One Coming in the name of the LORD."

[barukh haba beshem YHVH]

The "HaBa" in verse is assigned to Yeshua in Matt 21:9; 23:39; Luke 13:35.
Erchomenos also echoes the Septuagint version of Habakkuk 2:3b:

"Though he should tarry, wait for him,
for he will surely come [erchomenos] and will not tarry."

In Revelation 1:8 and 4:8, God is known as "the one who is, the one who was, and the coming one [ho erchomenos]." Like his Messiah Son, the Father God is always coming to his people. [return to text]